Even more Web3 wonders are gracing the Edge of Dubai, this time with groundbreaking developments in NFT gaming, metaverse, and digital fashion. Our host Josh Kriger ran into some of the leaders behind these advancements and spoke to them. In this episode, Dirk Lueth and Idan Zuckerman of Upland discuss their virtual world in Web3, the launch of Sparklet token, and their involvement in the Open Metaverse Alliance to promote interoperability among metaverses. Chris Bowden of Blowfish Studios introduces Phantom Galaxies, an online multiplayer mecha-based shooter set in space, leveraging Web3 integration for cosmetic NFTs and emphasizing ownership. And digital fashion icon Nova Lorraine discusses her journey from launching Rain Magazine to exploring blockchain, NFTs, and her futuristic fashion project, the House of Nova. Plus, our guests share their optimistic views of Dubai and the Middle East Region as an emerging leader in the Web3 space. Tune in!
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Dubai's Web3 Marvels: NFT Gaming, Metaverse Wonders And High-Tech Couture With Blowfish Studios, Nova Lorraine And Upland
We are live in Dubai, the Future Blockchain Summit. I've run into two gentlemen that I am excited to have a conversation with. I don't think I've ever met them both in person at the same time and place, but that's not surprising. They run Upland, one of the largest virtual worlds in Web3. It's great to meet with Dirk and Idan. We’re happy to have you guys on the show.
Thank you for having us.
It's a pleasure. I'll give everyone a little bit of your background. We'll jump right into it. Dirk is a Silicon Valley-based serial entrepreneur and blockchain technology enthusiast. He co-founded and co-leads Uplandme and serves as the Chairman of the Open Metaverse Alliance Web3, OMA3, which I'm also excited to talk about. He's done a lot of stuff. All right. That's the bottom line.
Idan is the Co-founder and Co-CEO of Uplandme. You've also done a lot of stuff, particularly in gaming, consumer, internet, mobile, engineering, and all those fun things. Thus, we get into Upland, which you guys were part of the first inaugural NFT LA. You've been in this space for a long time. You have such a rich perspective that we can't nearly get into in this interview. What does the world need to know about Upland?
That’s probably how we all got started. We started in 2018, which makes us somehow OGs or whatever you call them.
I was getting into the space around then.
It's a very long time. I started already in 2011 with the old blockchain. At that time, everyone was talking about Bitcoin. Blockchain as a buzzword was not around. I was fascinated by it. I wrote my PhD about private state-controlled currencies. I said, “Bitcoin is a cool concept.” Since then, I never let go. In 2018, Idan Mani Honigstein, our third founder, and I put ourselves together. I said, “When we want to build something, we have to build something ready for the mass market.” We were thinking about lots of concepts during that time and said, “First of all, what does everyone understand? Let's take the idea of Monopoly. Let's get inspired by Monopoly because I've never met anyone who does not know what Monopoly is.”
Everyone's played it. Everyone's had those long games that they're like, “Do I want this to end? This is fun.”
That's the first thing. The second thing was, “Everyone's talking about VR headsets and so on but no one's using it.” We said, “Where are people on? On mobile phones. Let's do mobile first.” We then thought, “Blockchain's complicated in the sense of private keys, wallets, and all that. The mass market is not ready for that.” We said, “When we want to build something, it has to be easy to use, and so on.”
We also add this whole real-world component to it where we say, “Upland is based on the real world.” We live in 23 cities in the US, 3 in South America, and 4 in Europe and Tokyo. You don't have to be in those cities to play, but that's how we all got started. It creates this emotional attachment to a place like San Francisco, New York, or London where we open.
It’s in Boston where I'm from.
Boston's not open yet. I'm sorry.
It's got to be coming because there are some diehard Bostonians out there like myself even though I'm in LA. Idan, I have to ask you. I imagine your gaming background fits into the mix here. You were sharing with me you have 30,000 active users daily, which is incredible. Not everyone realizes that. That takes some gamification. Was your background in gaming, the fundamentals, key to how you created Upland?
Yeah, absolutely. What's important in the consumer space, and we’re talking beyond the crypto crowd, we’re talking about mass audiences, it’s hard to catch people's attention. Even once you do, it's hard to convert them into engaged players. One of the things we use to do that is gamification loops. When you walk into Upland, it's an open-ended world. It's an open metaverse. It's easy to get lost in all the things you can do and engage with. That's why you need some simple loops to, first of all, grab people's attention.
Dirk mentioned the immediate connection to Monopoly. You immediately understand getting properties, completing collections, building up your properties, etc. That's the basis, but then, discover more. It is things like community building, world building, car racing, and a deeper engagement loop with brands like the FIFA World Cup and the NFL Player Association. To get deep into that funnel, you need some gamification to keep you engaged until you are able to comprehend, discover, and go deep into the product.
It makes sense. You guys have done a lot of collaborations and partnerships over the last couple of years. I know this is like asking who your favorite child is, but I'm sure there are some warm spots in your hearts in terms of some of the collaborations you've done in activations. Are there any that you think about fondly?
Each of us is going to give an answer. I know what Dirk is going to say. I'm going to leave it to him. I will go with one of the partnerships we've done with a Brazilian racing league called the Stock Car Pro Series. That's equivalent to the US-based NASCAR if people are more familiar with that. They take Toyota Corollas and Chevy Cruises and make them into amazing racing machines. They have an entire league with famous racers. For example, Rubens Barrichello is a racer. He used to be in Formula One. He races in the Stock Car Pro series with his son also on the same team.
What excites me about this partnership is it's one of the first partnerships that covered the entire vertical of our offering inside of Upland. Everything from collectible cars where you can race them but not just race them, you can race them on the real racetracks. We have the Interlagos racetrack in São Paulo, which is an iconic racetrack. You can go with your Stock Car Pro car and race it there all the way to spotlights from the races. There are video moments as NFTs that you can engage with, win, and collect in the races.
There's an eCommerce component, too, with digital collectibles and physical merchandise, correct?
Absolutely. It's the driver wearables. It's their helmets. These wearables can be worn inside cafes in Upland as actual wearables. Everything is tied together. There's a gamification of this collection. This is exciting. The community is excited about it. These brand partnerships magnify the offering and make it more approachable and palatable. Also, it attracts the fans of that brand to come into Upland, explore, and get into Web3 metaverses, etc.
That makes sense. Dirk, does another one come to mind?
It's probably what Dan suspected I would say, which is FIFA. I'm such a big football fan, or I mean soccer.
Not the American football. Got it.
We also do the NFL Player Association, so we do American football. I was super excited being originally from Europe of having the goals of Messi at the last World Cup when he scored it. I know we watched the final. It was amazing. You can get this as an NFT in Upland. That's one with the big brands. We have also what we call the Upland Developer Network. We have a third-party developer platform where many developers can put their own apps on top of Upland. Also, here, our community has started to develop apps there. I also love how they engage with the existing content. They understand Upland very well. They created apps like Uplandia or Upland Kingdoms. They’re interesting apps.
That co-creation with the community is such a meaningful experience to see their passion come out and use these tools that you guys have put all this time and energy into. It makes a lot of sense. I thought it was pretty interesting when I found out that after all this time, you've chosen to launch a Sparklet, which is a token component of Upland. We talk about on the show a lot not going token-first too early and building real community. I have to assume there's a lot of thought that's gone into this process to decide to do this. What inspired Sparklet and what's it all about?
Maybe to start and Idan can take over. First of all, what it is. Sparklet is the root of what we have been doing for two years. We have two tokens in Upland. One is called UPX, which is a fixed exchange rate. If you buy it for $1, you get 1,000 UPX. You purchase virtual assets in Upland, like properties or cars. It’s a median of exchange. The second token we have is called Spark. Spark is what we call the resource token. The idea is that when you want to build something in Upland or want to manufacture something, you have to stake Spark. The more you stake, the faster you build. That's the high-level idea of that token.
We launched a token already a few years ago and were able to collect a lot of data, on how people are using it, how much they're staking it, and how much they contribute. You can also contribute your Spark to other buildings and all that stuff. We learned a lot. We took that knowledge. In combination with the latest Ripple ruling, which has happened in the US, we saw an opportunity for our community to provide them because you cannot trade Spark within Upland.
We give them the opportunity to trade it but outside of Upland. We are doing this by bridging Spark out of Upland onto Ethereum. It's called Sparklet. Why Sparklet? It’s because we divide it by 1,000. We sold Spark for $460. You don't need one Spark to build a lot. It's more the small amounts. However, we divide it by 1,000. That's why it's called Sparklet.
It makes a lot of sense. If you want to elaborate Idan, that's fine. I am curious as you elaborate on what you hope happens as a result of this external economy. I talked about the tokens if it's new, and thanks for clarifying that, but this is a major step in terms of expanding the token economy, right?
Yeah. There are a couple of reasons why we want to do this. This is together with the community. We published the white paper proposal and then gave the community the opportunity to make comments. We had a vote in Upland. This white paper was approved by a majority of 87.3% of voters. The first job for us to do was to seek the approval of the community.
The reason we want to do it is, first of all, we want to give the players the ability to trade Spark. As Dirk said, it was not tradable. In a way, that maintains regulatory compliance for us. In the US, this was one option or one opportunity to do that. I don't want to say more important, but equally as important, the Web3 industry is going through some kind of bear market. One way for projects to resume growth and have growth is that visibility can be obtained by having these tradable tokens on exchanges. As it gets tougher for projects to grow by traditional means like acquiring users on social media, appearing in blogs, etc., this is a major opportunity for growth for Upland, which we want to seize with both hands.
The other thing is it gives us a bigger visibility and credibility in the wider Web3 community. Upland has been able to recruit audiences from the mass cart markets. They were not necessarily crypto aficionados. If you ask the Web3 native community, “What are the top metaverses?” Oftentimes, Upland would not be up there. It doesn't necessarily identify with Web3 metaverses because it didn't have a token. That's another important thing because Upland has its place among the top metaverses in Web3, for sure. Having that token traded in reputable exchanges creates visibility and credibility internally in the Web3 community.
Is there a gaming integration component here where you're able to integrate Upland with more outside games? Is that possible?
This is something we've thought about from day one, how to build a completely open metaverse even before it got branded that way. Upland is completely open for anybody to connect with their offerings to the Upland economy, the user base, the identity system, the land system, and the NFT creation system. Everything is open. You can come to Upland. You can recreate the entire neighborhood and entire cities outside of Upland in a completely different game and allow Uplanders to play your game and it seems like it’s Upland. We encourage that. We encourage people to do that and expand Upland beyond what it is.
We look at Upland as a Layer 1 platform. You can come up with any offers that you have as a developer or as an entrepreneur and expand, add value, and add new types of things. It could be games. It could be services. It could be anything you can imagine. This was super important for us. In that process, you can also make use of Spark and integrate that into your offering as well. It's not just the UPX, the economy, and the land. It's also the resources of the players that they can utilize in your offering.
That’s very cool. We love to cover things on the edge of Web3. This is certainly one of them, so that’s exciting. You mentioned something that I wanted to go into with you a little bit more, Dirk. You guys have been open to partnering with all the different metaverse platforms in this OMA3 metaverse council. For those that don't know about the council, how long has it been around? What are some of the key initiatives you're doing there to support the next wave in removing some of the friction that we all have seen going on in the metaverse experience over the last wave?
A few years ago, I was at a conference about NFT or metaverse. I saw all these projects. I said, “They all are working somehow in their silo. We have Web3. It's supposed to be open.” We don't want to repeat this whole idea of having a world garden and getting all the users. The true value of Web3 is that the users at the center of everything are in control of their assets and data. How can we make this vision a reality? You can only do that if you start working together.
Together with Batis from SPACE, we said, “At the next conference, why don't we invite all the big guys or OGs in the space together in one room.” We have a picture of that. Everyone was there. There was Animoca Brands, Sandbox, Ava Labs, and Decentraland. We were all in one room together. I said, “We have to work together. We have to get this started.” That was the birth hour of OMA3, which stands for Open Metaverse Alliance for Web3.
We had to do some strategy stuff. It’s an association in Switzerland in Zug where we've started. Anyone can go and join OMA3. The mission of OMA3 is to drive forward interoperability between the different metaverses. In OMA3, we have several vertical groups. One is called the asset transfer group. One is called the NFT working group where we are working on standards, royalties, and all that stuff.
One is called the portal group. I saw a demo. People are developing things. You were in one world, and then you should see a circle. You could look through into the other world, which is so cool. You can move that. It's important. We are then governed by a board. I'm chairman of the board. Robby Yung, the CEO of Animoca is in there as well as Lazaro and Batis. There are a few people in there where we try to bring things forward.
I can imagine at some point in the future that these board meetings will be simulcast in every metaverse. That could be fun. Are you guys taking policy positions on things like what Meta is doing? I'm sure that's come up in conversation at least a little bit, right?
Yeah. First of all, we don't have all the details of what they're doing. They're quite secretive.
It's a little bit opposite of open.
Even though I talk to them, they always share only what's public anyway so I don't have any judicial knowledge. The idea is also that OMA3 doesn't work in a vacuum. There are also other standards, organizations, or committees. The most prominent is the MSF or Metaverse Standards Foundation, which is a loosely coupled forum where people are together. We have a liaison agreement with them. We are active in there as well. However, we always represent Web3. We represent the blockchain-related stuff through ownership and all that. That's coming with us.
It makes sense. Idan, we're in the heart of the MENA region. It's bustling here. There is a lot of building going on in this region, but also a lot of people are gathering here. I'm curious. Why did you guys decide to come together to this region? What is this region's significance in terms of the development of your ecosystem?
We live in a world where our industry is a baby. It's evolving. During that evolution, there are a couple of very significant hotspots in the world. Dubai is one of those hotspots. They've been investing a lot in growing the ecosystems. They work to create regulation that works with companies. This is such a big contrast to what we are experiencing as a US company, for example. We feel like we have to work very hard to understand the regulation even though most of it doesn't exist.
I heard from someone on the show that there's a 1,300-page guide, but they're like, “Thank you for putting a guide together so we can at least know what the rules are and then we can follow them.” We don't have that luxury in the US.
Both of us are in the US. We're a US company. We love the US. It's very heartbreaking to see because we feel that the US is missing an opportunity to take a leadership position in the industry, but we're not giving up.
There's something to learn from what's happening here and to share with folks in the US.
It's always good to be engaging in these ecosystems, be active, learn from what's happened, and connect with people. At the end of the day, we're going to take it back to the US and apply it. I don't want to be presumptuous, but we want to be in a leadership position where we spearhead how to do things right in the US. Hopefully, regulation and legislation will mature and we can work hand in hand to a better point.
We can take examples from places like Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore, and throughout the world where they are treating Web3 as an opportunity, not as necessarily a liability. Don't get me wrong. We need regulation. This thing needs to be able to tackle all the problematic aspects of an unregulated space. If the US took a more proactive approach to regulation, taking examples maybe from places like Dubai and Hong Kong, we'd have an easier time. The US can capitalize on this huge industry that's going to emerge.
It makes sense. Dirk, is OMA3 thinking about coming up with some policy recommendations for different countries, particularly countries like the US, that don't have that playbook defined yet?
To be honest, we are not because we’re still a very grassroots organization.
There’s a lot to unpack there.
Are we going to develop standards or at least suggest standards and something like that? Policy lobbying, maybe in the future, we'll never exclude it, but at the moment, we are trying to make this interoperability effect.
You guys have plenty going on. I am excited to have a chance to sit down with both of you in one place IRL. Where can folks go if they want to stay in touch and learn more about what Upland is up to and OMA3?
For Upland, you go to Upland’s website, Upland.me, which stands for Metaverse. We found that URL in 2018 already before all the Metaverse hype. You can follow us on Twitter or X @UplandMe and all the other social platforms. You can follow me on Twitter @DirkLueth. Idan?
Also, we're on the App Store. We are one of the few Web3 projects that is fully on the App Store, both Apple iTunes and Google Play Store. Look it up and download it. It’s easy to get started. I am @IdanZuck on X.
OMA3 is OMA3.org. That's where you can sign up and join it. We have different tiered memberships. Educational institutions are a little bit cheaper. When you are a big corporate, you have to pay a little bit more. We live from those fees to support the operations in OMA3.
Thanks for hanging out.
Thank you for having us.
Thanks.
Thanks to Future Blockchain Summit for bringing us all together.
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This is live at the Future Blockchain Summit in Dubai. I'm hanging out with some cool folks, including the one and only Chris Bowden from Blowfish Studios. He's the Global Marketing Director. They're up to some cool stuff we're going to talk about a little bit. It’s great to have you on the show.
Thanks for having me.
Suspiciously located on your shirt is your newest project, Phantom Galaxies, which is what brings you here, right?
Absolutely. Phantom Galaxies is an online multiplayer shooter, like an action ARPG based in the mecha genre. If you've ever been into Transformers, Macross, or anything to do with mechs, it's very much that kind of vibe. You are in space flying around. You could transform from a mech form into a spaceship. That sci-fi vibe is what we offer with Phantom Galaxies.
I played a little bit. It’s a lot of fun. Let’s rewind a little bit, and then we'll go into it in more detail. What are you guys all about? What's some of your history?
Blowfish Studios is cool. As a studio, we’ve been around for twelve years originally making AAA Web 2.0 games. A few years ago, Animoca Brands acquired us and asked us to start developing Web3 games. The cool thing that makes Blowfish unique is we've retained all that amazing Web 2.0 talent who are making these fantastic Web 2.0 games. We’re making AAA-quality Web3 products in Phantom Galaxies, which is, in my opinion, the best-looking, best-feeling, and highest-quality Web3 game in the space.
That says a lot about the pedigree of the studio that Animoca decided to acquire you all. They have a lot of opportunities in the space to collaborate with different folks. I found interesting one of our earliest episodes with Yat Siu, the Chairman of Animoca Brands. Not a lot of people know the great history of what Animoca has done in the gaming industry. At one point, they had some of the top mobile games in the world on the Apple Store, and then they were taken off the store completely. Did you know that?
I did. The beginning started in Australia as well. We've got a bit of history.
They were taken off. That was because they were so effective at cross-marketing their games. Apple couldn't figure out why this company from Hong Kong had all the top games in the space. They were doing a lot of cross-pollination. You're in a good family. You guys have come out with this game. Why Web3 for this particular game? What was fitting from a use case perspective?
There's a need in the space for AAA games as a whole. Looking at it from that lens, do we have the quality to bring Web3 gaming to the mainstream? Beyond that, you look at what genres people want content or where is there perhaps a gap. The mecha genre isn't the most popular in the West in terms of available products. It's popular in terms of everyone has a love for the mecha genre.
For those of you at home, think Transformers.
Mecha is the Japanese word for mech, I suppose. In Japan, there's a lot of IP focused on mecha, not so much in the West.
Transformers was one of my favorite shows back in the day. I'm dating myself. I owned a bunch of them. I was always part of that world.
That’s fantastic. You’ll love Phantom Galaxies then.
It was fun playing it. You were talking a little bit about that's a unique genre, something that you could use some of the Web3 attributes with because, with your mech, you can do so many different things.
In terms of the Web3 elements, we don't want to be pay-to-win in any way. The NFTs that you can purchase in Phantom Galaxies are cosmetic only, but still cool. We'll have a suite of cosmetics that can make your mech shiny or whatever color you might like. That's our focus with the Web3 integration. We also have the ASTRAFER token as well, which has in-game use cases as well as outside of the game.
You guys are thinking about this stuff day and night, eating, breathing, and living how to integrate Web3 in a thoughtful way. Some of those considerations are around personal identity, the play, earned mechanics, ownership, and whatnot. What have you found is working effectively? What are things that don't work where you're not as focused?
Ownership is where you have to start. I’m a gamer myself. I’m a Web 2.0 gamer originally. What appealed to me initially about Web3 games was the ownership aspects. In so many games, I will transact. I'll spend a lot of money and I've got nothing to show for it. When I found out that I could own those assets, that was appealing to me.
There are a lot of other amazing benefits that Web3 offers that are probably a bit further down the track. Interoperability is one that gets spoken about quite a lot but probably doesn't exist in as many games as you would like or as it’s spoken about. That probably comes a bit later because it's a lot more technical considerations. For us, at the moment, and for myself, ownership is the message that I feel is the strongest that's going to bring us to mainstream adoption.
That makes sense. Where are we in the lifecycle of Phantom Galaxies? You released your beta a little while back. By the time folks read this, there'll be some new milestone achieved, right?
Yes. On November 2nd, 2023, we launch into early access and Phantom Galaxies will be available on Steam and Epic Game Store. It's pretty big news. The version of the game on Steam will be free to play, which is huge. There aren't many Web3-aligned games on Steam, so that's massive for us and on Epic Games.
Congrats.
Thank you so much. For those reading, you can already go and wishlist the game on Steam and Epic Game Store so you get your notifications when we're live. It's going to be a huge moment for us.
You guys decided to come out to the Future Blockchain Summit. Thanks to them for bringing us together. Everyone plays games globally. Where does this region fit into your overall focus from a marketing perspective? What are some of the other regions that you think about?
The Middle East is very close to my heart. In my career, I've been from Australia but focused on the Middle East. By chance, it's worked out that way.
It's like coming back to your second home.
Exactly. This is the first time we've been able to bring Phantom Galaxies to the region, which is very exciting. I'm personally leading the charge internally to continue expanding us in the Middle East. The Middle East, when it comes to innovation and new technologies, is always at the forefront. That's what I love about this region. People always want the latest, most innovative, best technology. People don't need to wait to feel comfortable with things. They're going to jump in. I see the Middle East as a key market for Web3 gaming.
I don't know what it is. Maybe it's the time zones where they're intersecting with both Asia and the US, but everyone is ready to do things and create, not just talk. There's a lot of building going on here and a lot of high-quality business deals that are getting done not at the superficial level. What's been some of the feedback you've gotten on the game so far at the booth?
It's been phenomenal. The number one thing people say is, “Look at the graphics. How is this a Web3 game?” This is my personal opinion. It is the best-looking Web3 game out there. It looks phenomenal.
No bias.
No bias at all. We get that genuine reaction from people when they walk past. We've got a foundation here that we can build off of. We're going to early access, but we've got a long-term roadmap to an eventual full launch and then constant building. We've got an amazing product in our hands.
I'm excited. We're going to have to talk again and check in as you guys keep building and doing cool things. Hopefully, we can bring Phantom Galaxies to LA at some point in the future. That would be a cool audience that would enjoy seeing this game IRL. You mentioned the website. Where can folks stay in touch with you and follow along with what you guys are doing at Blowfish Studios?
PhantomGalaxies.com is our website. We're all across social media if you search for Phantom Galaxies. First and foremost, wishlist the game on Steam and Epic Game Store.
Check it out.
The pages are already live. You go ahead and wishlist and be ready for that launch into early access on November 2nd, 2023.
Gear up, all you Transformers fans. I know you probably want to see the game, so we're going to have some fun here. We’re going to go through one of the many halls of this big conference and get to see folks playing the game. Who knows? Maybe we will oust them or find a seat so we can play as well. How's that?
Let's do it.
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Josh Kriger here, live at Future Blockchain Summit again in Dubai. It's day two. It’s fun here chatting with Nova Lorraine. It's great to have you on the show.
It's great to be here.
It's always fun to meet entrepreneurs who are in podcasting and media. We'll get into your bio a little bit and then we'll jump into a fun conversation. Does that sound good?
Yeah, let's do it.
Nova has been the Founder, Creative Director, and Editor-in-Chief of Raine Magazine since 2007. She's interviewed luminaries like Mark Cuban, Kendall Jenner, Daymond John, Nicky Hilton, and the list goes on and on. She's a multi-talented creator with awards like Best Haute Couture Designer of the Year. She has been featured in Vogue Italia. She's also a poetic storyteller. She's been nominated for two podcast awards, including Podcasts of the Year and People's Choice Podcast Awards. That's pretty amazing. Can you be my coach in the Metaverse? She's launching two podcasts as well.
She's doing a project called Raine Drops.io, which is an NFT Art House. She serves as an advisor for different DAOs, which is a magazine. We'll get into some of your other projects. I'm sure I missed some things, but that's okay. It’s great to meet you. I’m excited to learn more about what you do in the world. The first thing is starting a magazine is not easy. It’s not on my list of things I want to do. Why start Raine Magazine, and how has that journey been for you? I admire it. Don't get me wrong.
Ignorance is bliss because I didn't come from the publishing world. I did a stint as an editor at a major publishing house and was passionate about helping other creative entrepreneurs. I was like, “I'll launch a magazine. It will be a multimedia platform. It will be my way of giving back to the creative economy.” I was like, “I like to write. I know a photographer.”
What led me to that journey of launching Raine was I had been in the fashion industry for about five years at that point. I had pivoted from clinical psychology. I was pursuing my doctorate and had a divine download one day that I was going to help people through my love of fashion. I pivoted. I finished early with my Master's, went on to FIT New York, and started that journey. I had a business plan and a dream, and that was it. As incredible as that ride had been during those five years with the awards, the accolades, and doing incredible shows all over the world, it was still very challenging.
I can only imagine. I do a weekly show and it's a lot of work.
There were many days when I was like, “Why am I doing this?” I wanted to give up. It was always that bigger why that kept me going. I knew I wanted to inspire others. I said, “If I am thinking about giving up, think about how many people have given up. What can I do to help others continue with their dreams?” That's how Raine was born. It was truly this passion project wanting to fulfill this higher purpose.
I came across the concept of a virtual company way back in ‘06. I said, “I'm going to do this virtually.” At the time, I had a showroom for my collection. I had opened a store. I said, “I don't want any other physical anything.” I had a baby, so I was like, “This is going to be virtual.” I didn’t want to be limited by the talent that I could have as part of this new dream and baby I was creating. A group of five of us launched Raine.
When did the podcast come into the mix?
The podcast journey is interesting. I wanted to do a digital radio show but the technology wasn't as accessible then. My first audio interview with Josie from the Pussycat Dolls, I loved it. I was like, “This is such a fun medium to have these intimate conversations.” That led to podcasting in 2019. I did that interview maybe around 2016 or 2017, but then full-blown dove into podcasting in 2019.
I have to ask because we started audio only as well. Was there a moment where you decided to incorporate video or did you do video right off the jump? I've learned that our audience enjoys video. We have a lot of audio listeners, but we have over 40,000 subscribers on video, and that's in 2022. It surprised me in terms of the interest in consuming interview content via video. It makes sense intuitively as I think about it more. It wasn't something I expected at the time.
I agree. Podcasting is audio. When you think of why you go to that medium, it's individuals who are cooking dinner or driving to work. They're running. They're doing other things.
You don't want to watch a video while you're cooking or, hopefully, not while you're driving. Yet, it's increasing in demand. When did you do video?
For me, all my podcasts have been audio only. My next podcast will incorporate video. For me, my podcasts have been audio only, but I made a decision to incorporate video. My AI for Creatives podcast will incorporate video, and then I have a new one that I'm launching that will be video as well.
That makes sense. You're into fashion. People got to see the awesome looks that you rock. You'll be surprised how many people listen to your video.
I agree. I started discovering new shows via video, too.
I also appreciate that you've been a purist in the audio format because I felt like we were the outlier for a while. We're rocking that format together. What's behind Raine Drop? Tell us more about that project as well.
My journey in Web3 started in 2013. Through Raine, which covers the future of fashion, culture, and technology, I discovered Bitcoin. I did a story on Bitcoin. I fell in love with this concept and tried to get a mining machine at that time. I was a little too late, unfortunately.
You have to check the warranties and the fine print. I thought about it so many times, and then I dug into it then realized the chances that I don't get my money back are very high.
This was when the bigger companies dove in and there was nothing available at the time. In 2017, I started doing research again and came across Ethereum. I decided to invest in Ethereum. In 2020, I dove full-time into Web3 and crypto. I started day trading. I was reading every white paper I could get my hands on, which is a business plan of these new startup companies. That's when I realized we were on this paradigm shift and this technology amongst others is going to disrupt everything we know.
On that journey of starting to educate about crypto, Web3, and NFTs, it fascinated me the concept of tokenization. Beyond talking about it and teaching around it, I wanted as a creator, designer, and storyteller to play with the toys and the tech, too. I launched an NFT project. My vision was to continue to launch these impactful stories as digital assets and art as digital assets.
How does that work? How do you make a story into a digital asset? Is it with a video and multimedia NFT?
I illustrated my characters, and then the characters were minted as NFTs. As you collect the character, you learn more about the story.
How many different characters?
I have about five main characters. The character is not human, so she's an alien. I started with her and a few supporting characters.
We are all aliens from one perspective or another. Where are you going with that project at this point? The market's changed quite a lot.
The market changed. The timing was horrible. I released this concept back in March 2021, when the market started dipping. What allowed me to go through that process was realizing that so many people needed to be educated on how to even mint an NFT. What is an NFT? What is the value of collecting digital assets beyond speculation? What can you do with them? From there, that led me to advise many startups and founders in the Web3 space, getting into immersive environments, and building with immersive technology such as Unreal Engine and Unity. That led me to AI, which is where I am.
I love that. Much about your focus in terms of educating folks and being curious, I can relate personally in terms of what's happened with our company over the last few years. It's been a rocket ship. I'm sure you've experienced that since starting Raine. Speaking of rocket ships, those ships eventually are going to land on other planets. From what you're sharing, your new project will help people look good when they're on those trips. Tell us more about that, too.
A few years ago, I was a NASA Accelerator.
I love how you casually dropped that.
It was their tech-to-transfer program in conjunction with Virginia Science and Research Park, Virginia University.
I went to William & Mary.
This was through Virginia Tech. It was there that I had this inspiration for the House of Nova, which I describe as the future of couture. How can we use fashion with storytelling powered by technology to make a difference, create impact, and raise consciousness? How do we take this new medium of fashion, this fusion of fashion, into the future? What I see as a future is space travel.
What's the timing on that?
Rumor has it now. We are in 2023. From what I remember reading, 2030 in terms of a hotel on Mars.
Not that far away.
Not that far off. Who knows in terms of if and when it will make that timeline? I will be ready when that hotel opens. I want to continue to look for ways to incorporate fashion in areas and industries that have not yet been tapped.
For that type of situation, I'm thinking it through from an entrepreneur's perspective. Different planets have different atmospheres. Maybe the clothing has to have different types of properties in it to not only look good but also withstand the elements. Are there different lines for different planets? How is this going to work?
Yes.
If you're going to take that idea, I'm fine with it and run with it.
I was focused on space, but if we could do the Mars line and the Venus line. Initially, I'm focusing my collection on individuals here on earth and what they'd be needing it for. I bring it into various mediums with technology such as AR or immersive environments. I am using generative AI in that workflow as well. We are working with institutions and organizations such as FABRIC, which is out of Arizona in the US. They're a digital fashion innovation center, so both virtual and digital research and development. We are working with organizations like that to bring these new ideas to the forefront in terms of what fabrics would make the most sense if we were taking them to another environment or another planet.
How can we use these innovations here and now? How can we distribute fashion in a way where it can scale and reach so many more people? Couture is very exclusive in the physical form, but it's much more accessible in the digital form. How can we use that not just for gaming and wearing in these virtual environments but also for inspiration, storytelling, and a new way of exhibiting art?
That makes sense. Speaking of couture, there's a lot of that in Dubai. I described the city to one person. We were walking around. It's like Rodeo Drive on every street. There's a lot of good fashion here to my layman's taste. We are in this region. Is this your first time in Dubai?
This is my first trip to Dubai.
Mine as well. What brought you here at this moment? We've all known about Dubai for a while, but we're here. What's the significance of this region from your perspective since you're on the ground?
I'm here for GITEX. I'm speaking on two panels. I taught a workshop, which was AI, fashion, and blockchain, and how that is disrupting fashion and online retail. I am speaking on two fashion panels. I'll be doing a keynote on Web3 in the future of fashion at the World Trade Center as part of GITEX as well.
They have you booked solid. That's great.
Being here and touching down has been a fascinating experience so far. I've only been here for a few days, but to see the feats that have been accomplished from an architectural standpoint and the energy around innovation, entrepreneurship, networking, and connecting has been exceptionally inspiring. If you're in the space of futurism and you are a creator, a builder, a founder, or someone who's looking for that next project or that next gem, this is a great region for that.
I agree. I encourage everyone reading to figure out a way to put Dubai on your calendar and get over here sooner rather than later. There is a lot of exciting stuff going on. I am very grateful to Future Blockchain Summit for bringing you here, bringing me here, and bringing us together. It's been a lot of fun chatting with you. Where do people go to download all this information about everything you're up to?
It’s at NovaLorraine.com. I'm on most platforms. I'm most active on LinkedIn. I am getting more active again on Instagram. I'll be announcing new art and fashion that I'll be releasing and a project that I'm super excited about. You want to follow me to get more info on this. This is a project around the next lunar launch that's happening. That's taking place on the Space Coast out of NASA. There are 222 artists who were selected to have their art presented in this art preservation project. The digital assets will be minted on the blockchain and sent to the moon. I'm one of those artists. My fashion will be minted in part of this art preservation project or part of the lunar launch. Thanks to BitBasel for curating me as one of the artists.
I know those guys. I have been to their events. You let me know when that's ready to happen. We'll share that with our community as well. It’s such a pleasure having you on the show.
It’s such a pleasure being here.
Good luck with all your speaking engagements. I hope you have a chance to do a little shopping and enjoy the culture here.
I was saying that on the way here. I was like, “I need to go shopping before I leave.”
You're in the biz. There's a lot of fun stuff, so make sure you fit that in. Thanks for hanging out.
Thank you so much.
Important Links
- Upland
- OMA3
- Sparklet
- @UplandMe – Twitter
- @DirkLueth – Twitter
- @IdanZuck – Twitter
- Blowfish Studios
- Yat Siu Of Animoca Brands And Yogev Shelly Of TinyTap On How To Use NFTs To Leverage Learning, And More…
- PhantomGalaxies.com
- Phantom Galaxies - X
- Raine Magazine
- AI for Creatives
- NovaLorraine.com
- LinkedIn – Nova Lorraine
- Instagram – Unleash Your Supernova
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